In high school Richie Brown was a machine racking up 522 tackles during his final three varsity seasons.

But the former Parade All-American has yet to make a single stop at Mississippi State. Instead of forcing Brown onto the field, the Bulldogs elected to redshirt the Long Beach, Miss., standout allowing him to adjust to the college game and prepare to be a star the next four years.

"(Redshirting) benefitted me a lot because I was able to sit back and watch, relax and see things while I got stronger and learned the playbook," Brown said. "I didn't have any stress and now have an extra year in case I should need it."

Brown put on 12-pounds and is now up to 235 and spent the spring working with the first and second units at linebacker. He was forced to sit out of the Bulldogs spring game after receiving a minor concussion in the final week of practice but it expected to be ready when fall camp begins.

The former four-star prospect from Long Beach High School dominated at the prep level notching 209 tackles as a senior and was named the Class 5A Defensive Player of the year.

But when Brown began practicing last fall he quickly realized things would not be as easy as he was accustomed to.